If Africa’s young people are to have the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the workforce, there is no better time to rethink secondary education systems, activists say.

This comes after a report released last week on August 13 by the MasterCard Foundation highlighted that demand for secondary school education is expected to nearly double between now and 2030.

Statistically, the report suggests an upsurge in students’ enrolment from the current 60 million students to 106 million students by 2030 on the continent.

Going by the report findings, however, activists argue that changes in the nature of work are placing a premium on skills that help young people be adaptable, resilient, and creative problem solvers.

According to Reeta Roy, Mastercard Foundation President and CEO, "Digitization, automation, and technological advancements are already changing the nature of work in Africa. This means that young people must enter the workforce from secondary education equipped with the right skills. So, strategic investments into secondary education can be a big part of ensuring young people and their countries emerge from the other side of Covid-19 stronger and more inclusive,” she said.

Data indicates that across the continent, the youth population is growing and is expected to reach 456 million by 2050. This in turn requires an expansion in the education workforce. Over the next 10 years, an additional 10.8 million teachers will be needed.

Based on this, however, Damien Nkurunziza, Kigali City School head teacher, is of the view that ensuring high-quality teachers are in classrooms is one of the most strategic investments a country can make to enable all students develop world-class skills.

Nkurunziza, owner of the former High Hill Secondary School, points out that secondary education that provides relevant skills to young workers will, among others, help improve productivity, particularly in the informal sector and will, hence, play an important role in driving long-term economic growth on the continent.

In addition to completing secondary education, Nkurunziza observes that "it is equally crucial to ensure that the education gained is relevant for getting better jobs or access to higher education.”

Reflecting on the report findings, Levis Karangwa, a student tutor, says, "Increasingly, the need is for students to develop the ability to acquire new skills throughout life, with technical, social, and critical thinking skills. So it is more about learning to learn, rather than static learning.

"Many students consider secondary school to be a critical juncture in determining the road ahead, this means that it is important that these systems adequately prepare them for employment,” Bright Karenzi, a student says.

Boosting STEM education

According to Olivier Minani, IT expert, one of the areas that merit increasing emphasis is Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. (STEM).

For instance, Minani, who highlights Rwanda as one of the countries which have over the years made significant strides in the STEM field, cites the use of ICT in education as one of the key factors.

"Using ICT in the teaching and learning process now stands at 64.7%. While more than 1289 projectors and 1,613 Content Access Points (CAPs) have been provided to schools over a ten year deal,” he says.

This, Minani believes, is facilitating better delivery of practical experiments. "Tech-enabled teaching in schools is enhancing efficiency of student/teacher collaboration and communication within the teaching and learning process, whereby teachers administer quizzes and assessments and get feedback in a quicker way.”

To further strengthen STEM in the country, Minani explains that in 2016, the government enhanced this sort of learning by introducing smart classrooms in secondary schools. Each school was to have two such classrooms and each classroom was equipped with 50 computers, a projector, internet connectivity and access to digital content. By the beginning of 2020, this programme had covered 55% of secondary schools.

"The latest development in digital technology in education has been the establishment of the Rwanda Coding Academy. It was set up, among other things, to nurture Rwandan youth into future software developers, cybersecurity systems experts, and embedded system programming to develop artificial intelligence systems such as robotics.”